Fulmar said:
Or is it important to have an endemic species in Scotland? 
Basically, yes.
The need is to finance protection for the native Scots Pine (
Pinus sylvestris) forest habitat in Scotland (including ALL the species in it), which has lost something like 95% of its original area from before human forest clearance.
But EU grants are based around individual named endangered species, not habitats, and the more interesting the species, the more likely it is to get funding (politicians being what they are!).
So there was a definite need for a 'flagship species' to base pine forest conservation around.
Which one? -
Capercaillie? - what, a re-introduced species, that is also common in two other EU countries? - No, sorry.
Red Grouse? - Endemic, yes, but not a pine forest species. No, won't work.
Aha - invent a crossbill!
That does the job just nicely.
Trouble is, it has now been found that the majority of the crossbills in the native pinewoods are actually Parrots - a species that's common in two other EU countries and not deserving of special funding
And even worse, Scottish Crossbills (or at least, 'Type C' call crossbills, which are 'officially' identified with Scottish) are proving to be most numerous in plantations of exotic conifers — and worst of all, in the environmentally disastrous Lodgepole Pine plantations on the Sutherland Flow Country (the ones which the RSPB is desparate to get rid of, to conserve the very important wader breeding habitat) . . .
Michael
